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The No. 10 seed is the last U.S. player remaining in the nation's championship.
By SHARON GINN
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 8, 2001
NEW YORK -- Dear Pete:
Sorry we seeded you 10th and made you beat Pat and Andre to get this far. We didn't mean it.
Nobody wants you to retire. We want you to win more titles. Especially here at the U.S. Open. And we really want you to win today.
Please?
We love you, Pete.
Sincerely, the United States Tennis Association.
Okay, USTA tournament chairman Merv Heller didn't actually write this letter. But it isn't hard to imagine him fantasizing about sending Pete Sampras such a missive after Andy Roddick succumbed to Lleyton Hewitt in the wee hours Friday morning. At this point, the USTA needs Sampras more than Sampras needs another Grand Slam. As today's men's semifinals get under way, one of the more electrifying weeks in tournament history is in danger of running out of juice.
There's Sampras, who beat No. 6-seeded Australian Pat Rafter on Monday, then No. 2 Andre Agassi in a four-set, four-tiebreaker marathon Wednesday night. He plays No. 3 seed Marat Safin, the Russian who beat him in last year's Open final, in one semifinal.
The other semifinal features Hewitt, an Australian, and another Russian, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Like Sampras, Hewitt won a late-night marathon. Except the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium was rooting for the other guy.
Kafelnikov has advanced steadily but quietly. Even his ruthless, three-set dismissal of No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten on Thursday was understated.
So it is up to Sampras to keep the crowds riveted.
Playing Safin is a good place to start. After winning Wimbledon in 2000, Sampras arrived at the Open last year as the newly minted all-time Slams champion with 13 titles. He made it to the final but fell 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. He hasn't won a ATP Tour title since.
"I was pretty humbled out there the last time I played him on that court," Sampras said. "(As) defending champion, I'm sure he'll feel a little bit more pressure this year than last year."
After beating Mariano Zabaleta in straight sets to get to the semifinals, Safin really is just happy to be here. He has had a frustrating season, starting 11-10 and struggling through a summer knee injury. Now he might be playing as well as he did at last year's Open.
But Sampras is playing better.
"I'm here to win it and gotten through a pretty tough draw," Sampras said. "But I'm not content by any means. I feel like I've got a couple of good matches left in me."